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Summary

Ludwig van Beethoven, otherwise highly prolific in his work, did only compose one opera, and not without struggle, composing four different overtures in the process. Even though its creation was lenghty and complicated for the composer, the final product - a hymn to freedom, to love and humanity - has extraordinary musical qualities, where nothing is gratuitous and everything is pertinent. A story of personal sacrifice, heroism, and eventual triumph, the libretto is inspired by a real-life event during the French Revolution where a young woman cross-dressed as a man to get hired as a prison guard to free her incarcerated husband. Here Leonore, disguised as prison guard Fidelio, attempts to rescue her husband Florestan from death in a political prison.

An iconic figure of German theatre, and protégé of Bertolt Brecht, Achim Freyer directed Fidelio at the Wiener Festwochen in 2016 to great acclaim. Known both as a director and production designer, Freyer adds his trademark style and aesthetic to create a visually stunning as well as disturbing production with a carnival and mythical, yet semi-religious atmosphere, including masked singers with heavily painted faces, puppets and colourfully costumed figures on a macabre scaffold set.

Marc Minkowski conducts the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg and the Arnold Schoenberg Chorus and Christiane Libor and Michael König sing the roles of Leonore and Florestan in this impressive revival.